Morning announcements: Cicero-North Syracuse rocks and unsung heroes ready to make their marks in state regionals

There's usually plenty to celebrate at C-NS when the girls basketball team takes the court (Mike Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com)

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

A huge weekend of sports is here and The Post-Standard, its reporters and photographers will be out in force covering the state hockey and state regional basketball games on Saturday. If you can't go to the games - and you should - we'll be updating scores from OCC and Utica as they happen on Syracuse.com. With that, here are your Friday morning announcements:

Girls basketball: Funky year at Cicero-North Syracuse, no? The head coach of the football team resigned after a player boycott and health issues. The long-time girls softball coach was fired. And there was drama, of course, and a boycott (trending) over the casting of the high school musical. The rock, in all of this, are the girls who shoot the rock for the C-NS girls basketball team. The Northstars are the defending Class AA champions and play Albany on Saturday in a state regional contest at Onondaga Community College's SRC Arena. Pat Spadafore has a preview of the contest..

Nicknames: One Section III representative still playing is Cooperstown, which made news this week because it is retiring its nickname of Redskins. Who else out there is ready to put away their Indian nicknames? Who SHOULD get a new school mascot? dwebb@syracuse.com

Boys basketball: Henninger, Bishop Ludden and Westhill are representing Onondaga County at the state regionals on Saturday at SRC Arena. Each has major go-to players in Romero Collier of Henninger, Dan Kaigler and Ben Hackett of Ludden, and Jordan Roland of Westhill. But both teams have excellent supporting casts and they always play huge roles in how far teams advance. Who are the unsung heroes for the Black Knights, Gaelic Knights and Warriors? dwebb@syracuse.com

SRC Arena: Got an email from Mike in Fulton. He wants to make a day of it at OCC. MIke had two questions: Cost and Grub? Tickets are $8 (children 5 and under get in free). There is a food stand. It was pretty busy during the Section III tourney. One colleague tackled a basket of fries. I took on a box of popcorn. There's a condiment stand, so food choices beyond candy are standing by. Section III officials are expecting a huge crowd this weekend.

Hockey: Things I learned about CBA hockey after a great visit earlier this week with athletics director Buddy Wleklinski: The Brothers fielded teams in the 1930s that played hockey outdoors on Hiawatha Lake in Onondaga Park in Strathmore; CBA teams have traveled to Europe for games; and alumni still gather to play alumni hockey games. All cool stuff, but totally cool is the CBA/JD run to the brink of a state championship. The Brothers meet Beekmantown Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. at the Utica Aud in a Division II state semifinal game.

Volleyball: Oneida outlasted Living Word in five sets to win the Class B Section III boys championship last night. And Mount Markham defeeated Sauquoit Valley in five sets in the Class C Section III final. One spectactor told me it was so loud in the Canastota High School gymnasium, he rode home with the radio turned off in his car out of necessity just for some peace and quiet.